Still, the news seems to be part of a welcome trend. As NY1 reports, "NYPD statistics show the city has come a long way since 1990, when there was an average of more than six murders a day and 2,200 a year. This year, the city is on pace for just about 400 murders."

The news has been much different, as you may have heard, in the nation's Second City. As NPR's David Schaper has reported, homicides and shootings are up sharply this year in Chicago. The homicide rate there is up about 20 percent from 2011 and there have been about 1,800 nonfatal shooting incidents.